


Convincing May

by scarletmanuka



Series: The Centenarian, The Teen, and The One In Between [5]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, M/M, May is suspious, Multi, Not Spider-Man: Homecoming Compliant, OT3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-14 20:17:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14776556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletmanuka/pseuds/scarletmanuka
Summary: May is growing more and more worried about the amount of time Peter spends with Tony and Bucky. The boys decide it's time to come clean - about one of Peter's secrets, anyway.





	Convincing May

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, so just remember that this isn't Homecoming compliant so things are a little different. It's also part of a series so it's probably not gonna make a whole lot of sense if you haven't read [The Tangled Webs of Redemption](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14457855/chapters/33399912) yet

From the hallway Peter could see lights shining from under the front door to their apartment and he swore under his breath. He was late getting home from his internship, mostly because he’d fallen to his knees in front of his partners and begged to let him suck them off, and neither Tony nor Bucky had been able to say no. He’d been devoured afterwards by both of them, Tony sucking his cock and Bucky sucking bruises onto his skin that would be well and truly faded by morning. The teen was momentarily grateful that Bucky had kept the hickeys to his collarbone and chest so they wouldn’t be visible above his collar. Usually May was asleep by the time he got home, especially if she was working early the next day, but it seemed that she’d made the effort to stay up tonight, so he thanked his lucky stars that she wouldn’t see them. 

Letting himself into the apartment, Peter dropped his keys into the bowl and dumped his backpack onto the couch. He could hear May moving about in the kitchen and he headed that way, rounding the corner to see her drying a few dishes. “Hi, May,” he said brightly, stepping over to press a kiss to her cheek and hoping she’d not realise how late he was.

Her eyes narrowed and she pointed to the table, silently commanding him to sit. He sank into a chair, wincing at her stern expression, waiting as she hung the tea towel up on the oven door before taking a seat across from him. “Peter, we need to talk,” she said.

He bit back his retort about how that much was obvious, knowing that sassing her would not be welcome. Instead, he plastered his most innocent expression on his face and said, “Oh? What about?”

She sighed, taking a moment to gather her thoughts and in that moment, she looked older than she was. Whatever was worrying her had caused the fine wrinkles around her eyes to deepen and her face was almost pinched. “Peter, I’m concerned about how much time you’re spending with people who are much older than you.”

He knew exactly who she was talking about - how could he not, but he asked anyway, “What do you mean?”

“You know perfectly well that I’m talking about your Stark Industries internship, Peter.”

He frowned, trying to look confused but his stomach was roiling as panic begin to build inside of him. “I don’t understand why you’re worried about that - it’s work, May. It’s going to give me a helping hand to get into MIT.”

His aunt rubbed at her eyes. “I understand that, but you’re a teenager, Peter, and you should be spending time with your friends. People your own age. Instead you spend half your afternoons after school at Stark Tower and you also stay the night on Fridays and then spend all of Saturday there. That leaves very little time for socialising.”

“May,” he said, trying to keep his voice calm, to sound reasonable and mature, “a lot of kids at school hold down jobs as well as go to school. This is no different to that, except that I don’t get paid, but instead get extra credit towards my university entry. It’s not ideal, I get that, and it’s a lot of work, but it’s not  _ unusual _ .” Of course, the  _ other _ bits were most unusual - he doubted many of his classmates could claim they were sleeping with two superheroes, one of which was over eighty years their senior and the other was a genius, a billionaire, and a philanthropist. 

May’s lips thinned but she did give a small nod. “I’m not saying that I want you to quit or give it up, Peter. I know that you take your future very seriously and I’m very proud of you for that, but you need to see this from my point of view. After what happened last year...well, you must understand how worried I get when I know that it’s not only Stark that you’re spending time with, but also Barnes as well.”

“I explained that to you,” Peter said, trying not to huff but knowing he sounded petulant. “He was sticking up for me. I’ve already admitted how dumb it was, why won’t you let it go?”

“Please a grown man kissed you, Peter!” May cried, “and then claimed to be your boyfriend, and now you spend almost half your week with him!”

_ We do a lot more than just kiss these days _ , he thought, but was smart enough to not say aloud. “May, I spend most of my internship with T...Mr Stark. Sure, Bucky is there sometimes, but I don’t write code or build robots with him!”

“Shall I conveniently forget the massive crush you have on Stark?” she asked pointedly. “And when was the last time you built a Lego Death Star with Ned? He used to be the one you geeked out with.”

“Ned’s busy with other stuff too,” Peter said, a little sullenly. He knew she had a point, and he  _ did _ miss spending so much time with his best friend, but he was pretty sure that there was something happening between Ned and Michelle. His friend seemed less concerned these days that they didn't hang out as much and now that he had so much experience with trying not to touch someone and looking longingly at them without giving away that you’re in a secret relationship, Peter was sure that he was reading the signs right about his two friends. 

“It’s not healthy, Peter,” she said, shaking her head. “You  _ need _ to spend time with people your own age, have fun, just be a  _ kid _ .”

“I’m not a kid, May,” he told her bluntly.

“Yes, sweetheart, you  _ are _ . Maybe if you spent more time with friends your own age rather than people much, much older than you, you’d begin to realise that.”

He shook his head. “No, that has nothing to do with it.” He stood up, shoving the chair back. “I know what you’re trying to say, and if I was normal, then maybe you’d be right, but I haven’t been a  _ kid _ since I watched Ben get murdered right before my eyes.” He hated to bring that up, could see the way she flinched as if struck, but that had been the turning point for him. “There’s so much that you don’t know about me, May, and I get that, that’s on me, for not letting you in, but I’ve done that to protect you. I’ve had to grow up, and grow up quickly, to shoulder more responsibility than you’ll ever know.” He was crying now, he knew, tears slipping silently down his cheeks, and so was she. “You have no idea of what I’ve been through, of what I’ve had to face, what I’ve had to  _ do _ . I’m not a kid anymore, May, I’m not that little boy that you think I am and I haven’t been for a long time.” Breathing hard, Peter turned and went directly to his room, closing the door in a clear indication that he didn’t want to talk anymore. He threw himself on the bed, and clung to his pillow as he cried.

A short while later he heard the front door open and close and then the apartment was silent. May had gone, probably to a friend’s house or for a walk to clear her head. The teen immediately felt horrible for driving his aunt from their home, knowing he'd upset her, but he hadn’t been able to get his point across  _ without _ upsetting her, without bringing up his uncle, and telling her directly that he was keeping secrets from her. His own hurt and grief merged with guilt and he cried harder, wishing his partners were here to hold him. He settled for the next best thing and leaned his phone on the bedside table, hitting the call button for Tony.

It rang only once before the genius picked up and a small holographic screen projected from the phone, showing Tony in his workshop, exactly where Peter had left him. “Baby, what’s wrong?” he asked, dropping the screwdriver he was holding and stepping closer to the camera, his face etched with worry. “Are you crying, Petey? What the fuck happened? Are you okay?”

There was a crash from behind him and Peter saw in the background Bucky shoot up from near the bot charging station (he’d probably been playing with them before bed) and with a speed that only a super soldier could use, he rushed over to join Tony. “Doll? What’s wrong?”

Peter shook his head against his pillow, fighting back another wave of tears. “May and I had a fight, a...a...about h...h...how much time I spend with you,” he choked out. “I ne...need to tell her,  _ we _ need to tell her the truth.”

It was proof of how well they knew him that neither jumped to the conclusion that he was talking about their relationship, but immediately understood that he was talking about his powers. “Are you sure, baby?” Tony asked. “You were pretty adamant that she’d freak out.”

“She’s  _ already _ freaking out,” he told them. “I’ve never seen her so worried before. She still thinks that Bucky’s trying to get in my pants and she wants me to spend more time with Ned but she thinks I’m still a kid but I’m not. I mean, I know I’m young but I’ve had to grow up stupidly fast and she just can’t see that and I’m scared she’s gonna make me stop the internship and then I won’t be able to see you both as much and it’s all gone wrong and I’m scared so much.”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Tony cooed, “it’s okay, baby, just breathe for us, okay. Nice deep breaths, there you go, see, air is good, deep breaths.”

He followed the pattern set by Tony and slowly he calmed down bit by bit. Bucky’s brow was furrowed and once he could see that Peter wasn’t on the verge of a panic attack, he said, “So, just to be clear, we’re  _ not _ telling her that I  _ am _ tryin’ to get in ya pants, are we?”

Tony snorted. “There’s no  _ trying _ about it, babe - you were in them earlier.”

“I think if we tell her about me being Spider-Man and explain that you guys are both mentoring me, teaching me how to keep myself safe and how to do this whole superhero thing properly, then she’ll calm down,” Peter explained, sniffing slightly but his crying fit mostly over. “She’s not gonna be  _ happy _ per se, but she should understand where I am and why it’s so important.”

Tony was nodding in agreement. “Yeah, that sounds like the best way to go about it. Look, I’ll phone her in the morning and ask if she can come to the Tower for a meeting with all of us and we can explain it. Maybe take her down to the gym and show her what you’ve been learning from Bucky, show her the workshop and how we spend a lot of time working on new tech for you. Hopefully if she sees that we’re doing everything we can to keep you safe, she won’t have a heart attack.”

Peter gave a small, half smile. “Thanks, Tony.”

“Hey, anything for you, buttercup, you know that.”

“We’ll get it all sorted,” Bucky assured him.

“Try not to worry ‘bout it, okay?” Tony’s eyes were warm and full of love and his hand twitched, like he wanted desperately to reach through the phone and stroke Peter’s face. “Try and get some sleep, yeah.”

The teen nodded. “Okay. Talk to you tomorrow?”

“You know it, babe.”

“‘Kay, love you guys.”

“We love you too, doll,” Bucky told him, blowing him a kiss.

Peter terminated the call, feeling much better but knowing that tomorrow would be one of the hardest days he’d ever faced. It was a long time before he managed to fall into a restless sleep.

oOoOo

_ I’m starting to freak out. I don’t know if I can do this - Peter _

_ It’ll be fine, she seems more than amenable to talking - Tony _

_ Only because she doesn’t know what it’s about - Peter _

_ Relax, doll, Tony has got this under control. We gotta trust him - Bucky _

_ Listen to the old man and his wisdom - Tony _

_ Bucky is just old - not wise - Peter _

_ Hey! You take that back or I won’t ever tell you again the story about how I had to walk fifty miles through snow and sleet just to get to school :P - Bucky _

_ However will I cope? - Peter _

_ Sweetheart, make him stop sassing me - Bucky _

_ I don’t think I will. To be honest, if I have to listen one more time to how you wore rags for shoes as you hiked a hundred miles through tiger infested snow whilst fighting off cavemen just to get to school, I think I’ll cry - Tony _

_ That’s how we built  _ **_character_ ** _ back then! - Bucky _

_ I thought you built character by having dripping on bread for breakfast? - Peter _

_ I hate you both so much right now - Bucky _

_ And yet I think it’s successfully distracted Peter, so well done us! - Tony _

_ Urgh, and now I’m worrying again! Thanks, Tony :P - Peter _

_ It’s going to be fine, babe. We’re not going to mention Germany, or almost getting crushed by a gangway, or how many times you’ve been shot at by robbers and muggers, so she shouldn’t worry too much - Tony _

_ I hope not. I gotta go - the bell for the end of lunch has just gone. See you both tonight - Peter _

_ Me and my zimmer frame will be there with bells on - Bucky _

oOoOo

May pursed her lips as Peter was greeted cheerfully by almost half a dozen people before they’d even reached the elevators. Instead of being reassured that the staff and other people there were friendly and kind to him, it only seemed to reinstate that he was here way too often if security and the janitor recognised him. He knew he could do little else than trust in Tony’s plan and so he hit the elevator call button and tried not to fidget as they waited for it to come. 

As the doors slid closed behind them, Peter looked up to where he knew Friday’s sensors to be. “Hey, Friday, We’re here to see Mr Stark - do you know which floor he’s on?”

“Greetings, Peter, Mrs Parker, it’s a pleasure to see you this afternoon,” the AI said cheerfully. May flinched and looked around, her eyes wide. She’d yet to meet Friday and Peter was so used to her presence by now that he’d forgotten to mention her.

“Oh, sorry, May, this is Friday - Mr Stark’s AI who runs the building and looks after everyone here. Um, Fri, this is my aunt but I guess you already figured that.”

“I did, Peter, but thank you for the introduction. It’s lovely to meet you, Mrs Parker.”

May was still looking around to try and see where to voice was coming from. “Erm, you too?”

“Boss is on the communal floor with Colonel Rhodes and Mr Barnes, Peter,” Friday told him and the teen guessed that Tony had instructed her to use their surnames to sound more professional in front of May. The fact that Rhodey was there told the teen that Tony had figured that having the official leader of the Avengers there would make a more powerful statement than having him just admit he'd decided to mentor Peter himself.

“Thanks, Fri, you’re the best.”

“You’re most welcome, Peter.”

The elevator began moving and May whispered to her nephew, “Okay, so that was freaky. He has a robot running the place?”

“Friday isn’t a robot, May, she’s an artificial intelligence. Also, no matter how quietly you whisper, she’ll hear you since her sensors are always on.”

His aunt blushed at that and she glanced up towards the ceiling. “Oh, uh, sorry I guess.”

“No need to apologise,” Friday chirped. “I’m aware that to most people, my existence is a little daunting. Once you’ve finished with your meeting, I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have if you’d like?”

“Careful, May,” Peter warned her. “Friday loves the sound of her own voice and if you get her talking, she’ll talk your ear off.”

“For that, Peter, I shall conveniently forget to order choc-peppermint ice cream for Friday night.”

“Awww, that’s harsh, Friday.”

“Perhaps you’ll learn not to be cheeky.”

“I’m sorry, Friday, I promise. I won’t do it again.”

“That is a promise you cannot keep, Peter. I know you too well.”

He grinned. “That you do!”

The elevator came to a stop and he walked out, pausing as he saw May wasn’t following. When he looked back, she was frowning. “Peter, you didn't even say goodbye - that’s awfully rude!”

He laughed and moved forward to tug her from the elevator by her wrist. “Friday is everywhere so the conversation hasn’t technically come to an end.”

“Oh. I see.”

“Having said that, Peter, boss is waiting for you so we’ll continue this discussion at another time.”

“Over ice cream perhaps?” he asked cheekily.

“You have me wrapped around your little finger - yes, over ice cream.”

Laughing, Peter led May through into the living area where the three men were waiting for them. They all stood from where they had been sitting on various armchairs and couches and Tony crossed to May to shake her hand. “Thanks so much for coming, Mrs Parker.”

“Please, call me May,” she said. “I would have arranged a meeting with you soon anyway but I’m guessing Peter sent you the Bat signal.” She rolled her eyes and laughed but stopped when she saw no one else was laughing.

“I guess that’s a good enough segue for why we’ve called you here,” Tony said with a tight smile.

May’s gaze flickered around to all of them, noticing their suddenly serious expressions. “What the hell is going on?” she asked.

“If I could introduce myself,” Rhodey said, holding out a hand. “My name is Colonel James Rhodes, ma’am. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I’m sure I’d find it likewise if I knew what the hell the Air Force has to do with my nephew’s internship,” she said, glancing at the patches on his uniform.

“Why don't we have a seat and we can fill you in?”

They all sat, Rhodey in the armchair opposite the one May had chosen, Tony and Peter on the couch, and Bucky on the armchair nearest the end of the couch where the teen sat. He gave Peter a small wink and he smiled back.

“So, I guess I should start by saying that I’m not solely part of the Air Force,” Rhodey said. “In fact, I probably work more for the UN these days than the US military.” May made a non-committed hum and gestured for him to continue. “You’re aware that Mr Stark is Iron Man and that the Avengers are now under the jurisdiction of the Sokovia Accords?”

“I’ve not been living under a rock,” May said bluntly.

Rhodey smiled. “No, I didn’t think you had been. Well, to give a little more context, I am the official Team Lead of the Avengers now, and Mr Barnes there is our newest recruit.”

May’s eyes narrowed and she looked at the teen. “Care to tell me why you’re hanging around a bunch of superheroes. Peter?”

He opened his mouth but no words came out but Rhodey answered for him. “To be fair, Tony and I aren’t enhanced, we just have the armour to help us do what you call ‘superhero’ work. Barnes is enhanced however, with a very similar serum to the one used on Steve Rogers. He’s not the only enhanced individual in the room however.”  He paused and then tilted his head in Peter’s direction. “Your nephew is too.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” May scoffed. “I’m sure I would have  _ noticed _ if Peter had super powers. I’ve practically raised him from a toddler.”

“Um, it’s only a fairly recent development,” Peter said, finally finding his voice.

“What?” she said, shocked.

He could see the flash of disappointment in her eyes, not at the revelation, but at the confirmation that he’d been keeping a  _ big _ secret from her. “Probably about a year ago, I uh, well I got a spider bite. I don’t know what the hell was wrong with the spider but it gave me powers. I’m um, I guess you know him, um, Spider-Man.”

“That guy who has been swinging around the neighbourhood looking for trouble?” she asked flatly.

“Uh, yeah, that’d be me,” he said, giving her a small wave.

“What the fuck, Peter?” she snapped. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? You could have been hurt, or  _ killed _ ! Did you ever stop and think about how I would feel if something were to happen to you?”   
Before she could get fully started on her tirade, Tony held up a hand to stop her. “May, we understand how dangerous it is - that’s why we’ve all stepped in to mentor Pete, to teach him and keep him safe.”

“You? Keep him safe?” She barked out a skeptical laugh. “Every time I turn on the news, I see another piece about aliens invading or terrorists or some crazy super powered person hell bent on destroying the place and  _ you _ , Mr Stark, are usually right in the middle of the fight. You always look pretty beaten up in the interviews afterwards, always injured in some way. How do you call that  _ keeping safe _ ?”

“To be fair, he’s not the only one teaching him,” Bucky said, speaking for the first time.

May twisted around to glare at him. “You! You do not get to speak about protecting Peter after you all but assaulted him in from of his classmates!”

“May!” Peter gasped. “Bucky did  _ not _ assault me. How many times do I have to go over what happened?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you  _ say _ it was all a ruse, to make Eugene stop teasing you, but I saw the photos, Peter and he was enjoying it  _ way _ too much for it to be a simple ruse.”

Peter’s stomach roiled so much that he thought he might vomit, worried that Rhodey would put two and two together and realise the truth, let alone convincing May. Bucky just smiled sadly. “I understand why you’d be upset, ma’am and why you’d feel that way, but I was tortured and brainwashed into being a spy and an assassin for Hydra for seventy years. If I wasn’t a good enough actor to convince a teenage bully that I was enjoying a kiss, there is no way I would have survived beyond my first mission.”

May opened her mouth to speak, decided better, and snapped it closed. She thought for a moment, seemed to nod to herself and then said, “Okay, so when you put it like that, I feel like a bit of a prick right now. I apologise, Mr Barnes.”

He waved it off. “No need, I can understand why you’re worried. But you’re not the only one who worries about Peter - we all care for him very much here. That’s why I’ve been putting the training I had forced upon me to good use and have been teaching him how to defend himself.”

“And we work together on new tech to help keep him safe too,” Tony told her. “When I discovered him, he was wearing sweatpants and a hoodie but he now has a state of the art suit that is bullet resistant, helps absorb impacts, has a parachute, a tracker, and a thousand other gadgets and functions to keep our boy safe, plus an AI of his own so he’s never alone.”

“So, you’re saying that he’s an Avenger?” May asked.

Rhodey shook his head. “No, I have offered but Peter turned me down flat. Said he wasn’t ready for the big time yet and was happy just helping out the little guy.”

“But I will be eventually, May,” Peter told her. “I didn't ask for these powers but I have them now, and that means I have a responsibility to help where I can. I’m still learning though, and everyone here has been great at teaching me all sorts of things, but one day I’ll be experienced enough to join the team.”

She took a deep breath and then stood up. “Excuse me, I need a minute,” she said and then walked from the room. 

Peter went to follow but Rhodey stopped him, getting to his feet with a quiet whir of the braces. “I’ll go, kid. Leave it with me.”

As soon as the room was clear, Tony reached over and squeezed Peter’s hands. “It’s going to be okay, baby,” he said quietly.

“You’re doing so well,” Bucky told him. He looked like he wanted to join them on the couch but they all knew it was a bad idea in case May and Rhodey returned unannounced. 

“She’s not happy,” Peter said, a little redundantly.

“She’s taking it better than I thought she would,” Tony told him. “Don’t stress - Rhodey will talk her round. He’s good at that sort of thing.”

Tony was right. They sat there for another fifteen minutes, looking over some schematics for the latest Iron Man upgrades on one of the Stark Pads when the others returned. May looked like she’d been crying, her cheeks were dry but blotchy, but she looked determined. She crossed to the couch and pulled Peter up into a hug, squeezing him tightly. “The Colonel has guaranteed that until you’re fully trained, he’ll keep you from anything really dangerous, but you have to promise me, Peter, that you won’t go looking for it on your own.”

“But, May! I have my patrols to do!”

“And you can still do them, but if something comes up that’s more than you can handle, you  _ must _ call one of the others.”

“I’ve been going out on the patrols with him quite a bit,” Bucky told her, “so he usually has backup anyway.”

She nodded and gave him a shy, but grateful smile. “Thank you. I mean that -  _ thank you _ for looking after him.”

“Anytime.”

“So, I’ve been told that you might show me a few things, help me understand exactly what you can do?” she said.

Peter blushed. “Um, sure, if you want, I can uh, show you.”

She laughed and cupped his cheek. “Always so modest. Well you have my full permission to show off today. I want to see it, Peter. I  _ need _ to see what you can do. Show me, prove to me what you’re capable of, that you can look after yourself out there. I need to believe that you can handle the stuff that gets thrown at you.”

Tony clapped his hands. “Oh, you are in for a treat, May! Alrighty, everyone, to the gym!” he cried, waving his arms around.

Peter rolled his eyes at Tony’s theatrics but happily joined them as they all made their way to the elevator. He knew May was still worried and that they’d have words later about the secret he’d been keeping from her, but he could handle that. Spider-Man was never going to stay a secret forever - too many people already knew his identify and it was only a matter of time before someone slipped up. Peter didn't mind too much about that, it wasn't important. No, the only secret he cared about keeping was the one that connected himself, Tony, and Bucky together. That was altogether more precious, more important and Peter would fight till the end of his days to protect it, to protect their love. 

Now wasn’t the time to worry about that, however. Now was the time to show off. The doors slid open to reveal the gym and he shot out a web, flipped over May’s head and swung up into the rafters high above them. It was show time.

  
  



End file.
